A wide variety of applications require lightweight, rigid, precision structures which can be assembled into the intended application and disassembled into small packages for transport. In the field of telescope construction, the mounting of precision optical elements has been historically affected by rigid tubes generally in excess of the optics diameter. Such tubes are manufactured of aluminum, fiberglass or other composites, paper laminates, etc. These tubes are quite large, heavy, and not easily transportable. Other tube designs employ the use of space frame trusses, in which rigid tubular beams arrayed around the periphery of rigid end rings or plates, which triangulate and rigidify the structure. The disadvantage of this approach to portable systems is the assembly/disassembly process, which requires complex attachment and detachment of the always rigid truss beam elements, requiring cumbersome fixturing and pre-alignment to assemble. Still other designs use telescoping truss elements, which nest one inside the other. All these have the disadvantages of complexity of construction, inability for automated deployment, and large volumetric consumption. The invention proposed solves the drawbacks and limitations of the prior art, and allows for a fully automatic deployable and retractable space frame structure which requires no assembly, can be deployable and stow-able an infinite number of times, and is suitable for a wide variety of applications including telescope structures, portable building and antennae masts, planetary vehicles, space stations, and the like.